PDP Tackles Tinubu’s Govt For Sending 1,411 Delegation To COP28 In Dubai.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to clarify the alleged over-bloated delegation of 1,411 individuals to the COP28 in Dubai.

The party asserts that the delegation was filled with Tinubu’s associates “brimming with his cronies, political minions, and their mistresses at huge expense to the nation.”

The PDP urged the National Assembly to investigate the disclosed delegation matter and take necessary actions, including imposing sanctions on individuals or institutions found responsible for the situation.

The PDP asserts that this incident validates the perception that the APC administration led by Tinubu is extravagant, indulgent, and careless in utilizing the nation’s limited resources.

This criticism comes at a time when Nigerians are seeking prudent resource management for essential infrastructural development, job creation, and economic revitalization.

The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba rejected the Presidency’s attempt to justify the inflated delegation.

The party dismissed the notion that genuine sub-national officials, businesses, journalists, and civil societies traveling at their own expense could conceal the inclusion of associates, mistresses, and hangers-on associated with the Presidency who are reportedly attending at government’s expense and have no relevance whatsoever at the Conference.

Ologunagba in a statement said, “Our Party and all well-meaning Nigerians are appalled by the level of profligacy inherent in the APC administration whose actions and policies so far are skewed towards the promotion and institutionalization of corruption.

“The attempt to deceive Nigerians even when the list of the delegation is in the public domain, shows that the APC administration is irredeemably depraved.

“We ask, why would a country whose citizens are dying daily from inability to purchase necessities be willing to fritter its resources and scarce foreign exchange in such a manner?

“It only points to the fact that this administration is not interested in the good of the generality of our citizens but in a select few positioned to fleece the nation’s resources.

“Our Party challenges the Presidency to come clean by making public the names of the official delegation sponsored by the Federal Government to the Conference, the relevance of such individuals to the Conference, and the total cost of such sponsorship on the nation.

“Of course, Nigerians have the list and they know the genuine, officials of sub-national governments and other self-sponsored entities at the Conference.

The PDP has urged the National Assembly to fulfill its constitutional obligation under Section 88 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). This provision empowers the National Assembly to investigate and reveal corruption within any government organ.

The party called for an immediate inquiry into the disclosed incident, advocating for appropriate sanctions against individuals or institutions found responsible.

“Our Party also demands that President Tinubu should be ready to refund any Federal Government fund improperly spent to sponsor any individual who has no relevance at the Conference. Such funds should be channeled to projects that have a direct bearing on the wellbeing of Nigerians.”

Kanyi Daily recalls that Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, had expressed optimism that Nigerians will soon experience positive changes under this administration.